page_title: Boxing in Japan
section_title: Recognition Issues
hierarchical_section_title: Boxing in Japan / Professional boxing / Recognition Issues
caption_attribution_description: English: The number of Japan's male world champions per weight class in boxing up to April 2013. Champions in multiple weight classes are counted in each category. Satoshi Shingaki who became the IBF champion before April 1, 2013 and Kōki Etō who won the interim title since February 28, 2011 are not officially recognized as Japan's champions, but are included here.
context_page_description: The history of boxing in Japan began in 1854 when Matthew Perry landed at Shimoda, Shizuoka soon after the Convention of Kanagawa. At that time, American sailors often engaged in sparring matches on board their ships, with their fists wrapped in thin leather. It was the first example of boxing conveyed to Japan. In addition, an ōzeki-ranked sumo wrestler named Tsunekichi Koyanagi was summoned by the shogunate, and ordered to fight a boxer and a wrestler from the United States. There were three fought matches, using different martial arts' styles, before Perry and other spectators. Koyanagi reportedly won.
context_section_description: Japanese boxers have very low recognition in the United States as cable networks are generally unconcerned with the lower weight classes to which most of the Japanese boxers belong. In April 2012, The Ring's Doug Fischer outlined the following three basic conditions that are required for Japan's boxing in order to earn international recognition:
  The Japanese commission needs to recognize the WBO and the IBF.
  Japan's top promoters need to bring in more world-class fighters from outside of Asia to challenge their fighters.
  The Japanese titleholders need to fight each other.
  — Doug Fischer, Dougie's Friday mailbag, RingTV.com
  The fight between the WBC's Kazuto Ioka and the WBA's Akira Yaegashi in June 2012 was the first-ever world title unification match for Japan's world champions. The president of Japan Pro Boxing Association Hideyuki Ohashi mentioned that it could be a healthy sign for the future of Japan's boxing. Prior to that, there have been two attempts to unify the world titles. However, in the fight between the WBA's Jirō Watanabe and the WBC's Payao Poontarat, Watanabe was stripped of his WBA title before the fight since he participated in that bout under the WBC rules without being sanctioned by the WBA. The chairman of the WBA's championship committee Elias Cordova had warned on the day of the fight stating that "The minute he steps into the ring Watanabe will be stripped of his title." In the fight between the WBC's Hozumi Hasegawa and the WBO's Fernando Montiel, Montiel's WBO title was not at stake because the JBC had recognized only the WBA, WBC and its co-founder OPBF as legitimate governing organizations sanctioning championship bouts and had not allowed their boxers to fight for the other organizations' titles.
caption: The number of Japan's male world champions per weight class up to November 2013. Champions in multiple weight classes are counted in each category. Satoshi Shingaki who became the IBF champion before April 1, 2013 and Kōki Etō who won the interim title since February 28, 2011 are not officially recognized as Japan's champions, but are included here.
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